Survivor Series (2019)
Survivor Series (2019) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network event, produced by WWE for their Raw, SmackDown and NXT brands. It took place on November 24, 2019 at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. It was the thirty-third event under the Survivor Series chronology and the first to feature the NXT brand. Ten matches were contested at the event, including three on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler defeated Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch and SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley in a non-title triple threat match by making Bayley submit. Team NXT won the women's Survivor Series elimination match while Team SmackDown won the men's. NXT won brand supremacy by winning four of the seven interbrand matches; SmackDown won two while Raw only won one. In what were the only non-interbrand matches on the card, all three of WWE's world championships were defended: Brock Lesnar retained the WWE Championship against Rey Mysterio in a No Holds Barred match, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt defeated Daniel Bryan to retain the Universal Championship, and Adam Cole retained the NXT Championship against Pete Dunne. Production Background The show will include matches from scripted story lines, where wrestlers portray villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters. The scripted events build tension in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results are predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown and NXT. It will be the first Survivor Series to feature the NXT brand. Storylines Since the brand extension was reintroduced in 2016, Survivor Series has centered around competition between Raw and SmackDown for brand supremacy and bragging rights. In 2019 NXT debuted on USA Network, solidifying its status as WWE's third major brand, and with that has been added as part of the 2019 event as part of the brand competition theme. World championship matches On the September 30 episode of Raw, Brock Lesnar brutally attacked Rey Mysterio as well as Mysterio's son, Dominic, who was seated in the front row. After Lesnar won the WWE Championship during SmackDown's 20th Anniversary, an injured Mysterio appeared along with Dominic's godfather and Lesnar's former Ultimate Fighting Championship rival, Cain Velasquez, who attacked Lesnar. At Crown Jewel, Lesnar retained the championship against Velasquez by submission and continued to apply the Kimura Lock after the match had concluded until Mysterio attacked Lesnar with a chair. Lesnar fended off Mysterio, who retaliated by striking Lesnar with multiple chair shots, forcing him to retreat. On the following SmackDown, Lesnar's advocate Paul Heyman announced that they were quitting SmackDown and moving to Raw with the WWE Championship in order for Lesnar to seek revenge against Mysterio, who had been drafted to Raw. On the following Raw, Lesnar proceeded to attack crew members in search of Mysterio, including commentator Dio Maddin. After Lesnar performed an F-5 on Maddin through the announce table, Mysterio appeared and struck Lesnar with a steel pipe. He later issued a challenge to Lesnar for the WWE Championship, which was made official. On the November 18 episode of Raw, Mysterio accepted Heyman's suggestion of making the match a No Holds Barred match. At Crown Jewel, SmackDown wrestler "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt won Raw's Universal Championship, thus transferring the title to SmackDown. Backstage during the November 8 episode of SmackDown, as Sami Zayn was trying to convince Daniel Bryan to join his faction, Wyatt as "The Fiend" appeared and attacked Bryan with the Mandible Claw. During a "MizTV" segment the following week, Wyatt as his normal self taunted Bryan by mocking the latter's former "Yes Movement" persona. In response, Bryan challenged Wyatt for the Universal Championship at Survivor Series and Wyatt accepted. Backstage during the November 8 episode of SmackDown, as Sami Zayn was trying to convince Daniel Bryan to join his faction, Bray Wyatt (as "The Fiend") appeared behind Bryan and attacked him with the Mandible Claw. During a "Miz TV" segment the following week, Wyatt (as his normal self) taunted Bryan by mocking the latter's "Yes Movement" former persona. In response, Bryan challenged Wyatt for the Universal Championship at Survivor Series and Wyatt accepted. Champions brand supremacy matches On the November 1 episode of SmackDown, after Bayley (who had Sasha Banks in her corner) defeated Nikki Cross to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship thanks to interference from Banks, NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler appeared and attacked all three women. During a sit-down interview between Charly Caruso and Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch on the following Raw, Caruso informed Lynch that she would be facing Baszler and Bayley in a non-title triple threat match at Survivor Series. Baszler then appeared during the interview and confronted Lynch. On the November 4 episode of Raw, a non-title triple threat tag team match between Raw Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar), SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson), and NXT Tag Team Champions The Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) was scheduled. However, on the November 8 episode of SmackDown, The New Day's Big E and Kofi Kingston defeated The Revival to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, thus replacing them in the match. Backstage during the November 6 episode of NXT, The O.C. (AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson) attacked The Undisputed Era's Bobby Fish, Kyle O'Reilly, and Roderick Strong. On the November 11 episode of Raw, a non-title triple threat match between United States Champion AJ Styles, Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, and NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong was scheduled for Survivor Series. Survivor Series elimination matches On the November 8 episode of SmackDown, Michael Cole announced Sasha Banks as the captain for Team SmackDown's women's team. Later that night, Carmella and Dana Brooke defeated Fire & Desire (Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville) to qualify for the team after the match had been rescheduled due to a backstage attack from NXT's Bianca Belair the previous week that led to Rhea Ripley and Tegan Nox defeating Fire & Desire. On November 14, WWE.com announced Lacey Evans as the fourth member of the SmackDown women's team, followed by Nikki Cross on November 17 after Cross, who was originally scheduled to face Bayley in a non-title qualifying match, scored the pin in an eight-woman tag team match on the November 15 episode of SmackDown. On the November 18 episode of Raw, Charlotte Flair was announced as the captain for Team Raw's women's team, with Natalya, Sarah Logan, and WWE Women's Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) revealed as the other team members later that night. Following a tag team match that night in which Flair and Becky Lynch faced The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce), the latter being disgruntled as they were not selected for Team Raw, NXT's Shayna Baszler, Marina Shafir, and Jessamyn Duke attacked the women. On the November 22 episode of SmackDown, Ripley was revealed as the captain for Team NXT's women's team. Later that night, Ripley defeated Flair and Banks in a triple threat match, and a brawl occurred with all the women from the three brands following the match. During live Q & A session with Triple H following the conclusion of TakeOver, it was announced that the rest of teammates joining Ripley for Team NXT at Survivor Series would be Candice LeRae, Bianca Belair, Io Shirai, and Toni Storm. On November 8, WWE.com announced that Seth Rollins was selected as the captain for Team Raw's men's team at Survivor Series, with Kevin Owens, Ricochet, Randy Orton, and Drew McIntyre revealed as the other team members during the November 11 episode of Raw. On the November 12 episode of WWE Backstage, Roman Reigns was revealed as the captain for Team SmackDown, with Mustafa Ali (formerly known as Ali), Braun Strowman, King Corbin, and Shorty G also announced for the team. Backstage during the November 8 episode of SmackDown, as Sami Zayn was trying to convince Daniel Bryan to join his faction, Bray Wyatt (as "The Fiend") appeared behind Bryan and attacked him with the Mandible Claw. During a "Miz TV" segment the following week, Wyatt (as his normal self) taunted Bryan by mocking the latter's "Yes Movement" former persona. In response, Bryan challenged Wyatt for the Universal Championship at Survivor Series and Wyatt accepted. Aftermath Matches Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * Survivor Series Category:Survivor Series Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events Category:2019 Pay-Per-View Events